Two Down

Met with Dr Jason today after my first post-Gamma Knife MRI. Two of the three spots are completely gone, and the third has shrunk. My brain doesn't seem to have sustained any damage, from what the MRI showed. He looked at it three times to make sure, and my other spots appear to have stayed the same, and nothing new has shown up. I'll have another MRI in six weeks.

Dr Jason did, however, recommend that I go back on some systemic treatment (read: chemotherapy) anyway, because if the stuff in the brain already big enough to see isn't doing anything, then maybe the cancer cells are sneaking in from somewhere outside the blood-brain barrier. Also, last body scans I had, three months ago, did show some "marginal uptake" of a couple places in the skeleton, if you'll remember. Last night I read through all the proposed drug information Dr Specht left me with three months ago (not such a good night's sleep after that), and I asked for his recommendations to go with hers and my own guts. On Thursday when I meet with Dr Specht, we'll decide what to do next.

Dr Jason did suggest I not show the below to Dr Specht (his way of chastising me),
the new tattoo that I got last Wednesday, on the inside of my right arm. The reason I deserved scolding was that I had lymph nodes (some, not all) removed from under my right arm 11 years ago, which means that I am at greater risk for infections and lymphedema (uncomfortable swelling due to the body's inability to drain with a compromised endocrine system) on that arm. I haven't had my blood pressure taken or a single blood draw done from that arm since April 27, 1999--I know the risks. That was where I wanted the tattoo though, and it is, after all, my body, and so that's where it went. It's an orca and I love it. Dr Specht will live.